U.S. patent number 9,031,560 [Application Number 13/622,421] was granted by the patent office on 2015-05-12 for condition reporting to enable possible reduction in radio network inefficiencies.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy. The grantee listed for this patent is Nokia Siemens Networks Oy. Invention is credited to Swaminathan Anantha, John M. Harris, Sean Kelley.
United States Patent |
9,031,560 |
Anantha , et al. |
May 12, 2015 |
Condition reporting to enable possible reduction in radio network
inefficiencies
Abstract
A method includes sending a message from a first base station to
another entity in a radio network. The message includes one or more
indications one or more conditions have been met. The one or more
conditions include one or both of: a duration the user equipment is
connected to a first cell served by the first base station, prior
to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a second
base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal strength of
the second cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to
the first base station is better than a signal strength of the
first cell for a threshold duration of time. The entity may receive
the message, e.g., and use the message to determine whether to
effect changes to the radio network. Apparatus, program products,
and software are also disclosed.
Inventors: |
Anantha; Swaminathan (Round
Lake, IL), Harris; John M. (Glenview, IL), Kelley;
Sean (Hoffman Estates, IL) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Nokia Siemens Networks Oy |
Espoo |
N/A |
FI |
|
|
Assignee: |
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
(Espoo, FI)
|
Family
ID: |
47881132 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/622,421 |
Filed: |
September 19, 2012 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20130072193 A1 |
Mar 21, 2013 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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61536187 |
Sep 19, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/436; 455/437;
455/63.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
36/0055 (20130101); H04W 36/245 (20130101); H04W
36/04 (20130101); H04W 84/045 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04W
36/00 (20090101); H04B 15/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;455/436 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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WO-2008020280 |
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Feb 2008 |
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WO |
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WO-2008113373 |
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Sep 2008 |
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WO |
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WO-2011017934 |
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Feb 2011 |
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WO |
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Other References
3GPP TSG RAN WG2#70bis, "Mobility suport to pico cells in hte
co-channel HetNet deployment", Jul. 2010. cited by
examiner.
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Primary Examiner: Pham; Timothy
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Harrington & Smith
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/536,187,
filed on Sep. 19, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method comprising: sending a message from a first base station
to another entity in a radio network, wherein the message comprises
one or more indications that one or more conditions have been met,
and wherein the one or more conditions comprise both of the
following: a duration the user equipment is connected to a first
cell served by the first base station, prior to handover from the
first cell to a second cell served by a second base station, is
less than a threshold; and the signal strength of the second cell
as measured by the user equipment and reported to the first base
station is better than a signal strength of the first cell for a
threshold duration of time, wherein the user equipment is handed
into the first base station from a third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the method further comprises receiving, by
the first base station, at least one configuration parameter
forming at least part of the one or more conditions and indications
of the one or more conditions from one of the third base station, a
base station controller associated with the first base station, a
centralized self-optimizing network server, or an operations,
administration, and maintenance server.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is only sent if the
one or more conditions have been met.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is handed into
the first base station from a third base station.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is handed into
the first base station from a third base station serving a third
cell, and wherein the one or more conditions further comprise one
or more of the following: a velocity of the user equipment is less
than a threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of the
third cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list; the
third cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type associated
with the second cell; a cell type associated with the first cell; a
cell type associated with the second cell is a same as the cell
type of the third cell; the cell type associated with the second
cell is the same as the cell type of the third cell and the cell
type of the first cell is of a different cell type than the cell
type of the second and third cells; the second and third cells are
controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling the first cell; an
amount of data exchanged by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a second threshold; or an amount of data
exchanged per second by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a third threshold.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein sending further comprises sending
the message to the other entity only if a subsequent inbound
handover procedure for the user equipment to the first cell does
not occur within a threshold time following an outbound handover
procedure to the second cell.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the other entity comprises at
least one of a third base station from which the user equipment is
handed into the first cell, a base station controller controlling
the third base station, a centralized self-optimizing network
server, or an operations, administration, and maintenance
server.
8. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more
memories including computer program code, the one or more memories
and the computer program code configured, with the one or more
processors, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the
following: sending a message from a first base station to another
entity in a radio network, wherein the message comprises one or
more indications that one or more conditions have been met, and
wherein the one or more conditions comprise both of the following:
a duration the user equipment is connected to a first cell served
by the first base station, prior to handover from the first cell to
a second cell served by a second base station, is less than a
threshold; and the signal strength of the second cell as measured
by the user equipment and reported to the first base station is
better than a signal strength of the first cell for a threshold
duration of time, wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from a third base station serving a third cell,
and wherein the one or more memories and the computer program code
are further configured, with the one or more processors, to cause
the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, by the
first base station, at least one configuration parameter forming at
least part of the one or more conditions and indications of the one
or more conditions from one of the third base station, a base
station controller associated with the first base station, a
centralized self-optimizing network server, or an operations,
administration, and maintenance server.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sending further comprises
sending the message if the one or more conditions have been
met.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user equipment is handed
into the first base station from a third base station.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the user equipment is handed
into the first base station from a third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the one or more conditions further comprise
one or more of the following: a velocity of the user equipment is
less than a threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of
the third cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list;
the third cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type
associated with the second cell; a cell type associated with the
first cell; a cell type associated with the second cell is a same
as the cell type of the third cell; the cell type associated with
the second cell is the same as the cell type of the third cell and
the cell type of the first cell is of a different cell type than
the cell type of the second and third cells; the second and third
cells are controlled by a same base station controller which is
different than the base station controller controlling the first
cell; an amount of data exchanged by the first base station with
the user equipment is greater than a second threshold; or an amount
of data exchanged per second by the first base station with the
user equipment is greater than a third threshold.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sending further comprises
sending the message to the other entity only if a subsequent
inbound handover procedure for the user equipment to the first cell
does not occur within a threshold time following an outbound
handover procedure to the second cell.
14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the other entity comprises at
least one of a third base station from which the user equipment is
handed into the first cell, a base station controller controlling
the third base station, a centralized self-optimizing network
server, or an operations, administration, and maintenance
server.
15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium bearing computer program code
embodied therein for use with a computer, the computer program code
comprising: sending a message from a first base station to another
entity in a radio network, wherein the message comprises one or
more indications that one or more conditions have been met, and
wherein the one or more conditions comprise both of the following:
a duration the user equipment is connected to a first cell served
by the first base station, prior to handover from the first cell to
a second cell served by a second base station, is less than a
threshold; and the signal strength of the second cell as measured
by the user equipment and reported to the first base station is
better than a signal strength of the first cell for a threshold
duration of time, wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from a third base station serving a third cell,
and wherein the method further comprises receiving, by the first
base station, at least one configuration parameter forming at least
part of the one or more conditions and indications of the one or
more conditions from one of the third base station, a base station
controller associated with the first base station, a centralized
self-optimizing network server, or an operations, administration,
and maintenance server.
16. A method comprising: receiving a message from a first base
station, wherein the message comprises one or more indications that
one or more conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more
conditions comprise both of the following: a duration the user
equipment is connected to a first cell served by the first base
station, prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell
served by a second base station, is less than a threshold; and the
signal strength of the second cell as measured by the user
equipment and reported to the first base station is better than a
signal strength of the first cell for a threshold duration of time;
wherein the receiving occurs in an entity other than the first or
second base stations in the radio network, wherein the user
equipment is handed into the first base station from the third base
station serving a third cell, and wherein the method further
comprises sending to the first base station at least one
configuration parameter forming at least part of the one or more
conditions and indications of the one or more conditions from the
third base station, and wherein the entity comprises at least one
of a third base station from which the user equipment is handed
into the first cell, a base station controller controlling the
third base station, a centralized self-optimizing network server,
or an operations, administration, and maintenance server.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity comprises a third
base station, and wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from the third base station.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity comprises a third
base station, wherein the user equipment is handed into the first
base station from the third base station serving a third cell, and
wherein the one or more conditions further comprises one or more of
the following: a velocity of the user equipment is less than a
threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of the third
cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list; the third
cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type associated with
the second cell; a cell type associated with the first cell; a cell
type associated with the second cell is a same as the cell type of
the third cell; the cell type associated with the second cell is
the same as the cell type of the third cell and the cell type of
the first cell is of a different cell type than the cell type of
the second and third cells; the second and third cells are
controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling the first cell; an
amount of data exchanged by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a second threshold; or an amount of data
exchanged per second by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a third threshold.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
20. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or
more memories including computer program code, the one or more
memories and the computer program code configured, with the one or
more processors, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the
following: receiving a message from a first base station, wherein
the message comprises one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
comprise both of the following: a duration the user equipment is
connected to a first cell served by the first base station, prior
to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a second
base station, is less than a threshold; and the signal strength of
the second cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to
the first base station is better than a signal strength of the
first cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the apparatus
is part of an entity other than the first or second base stations
in the radio network, wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from the third base station serving a third
cell, and wherein the one or more memories and the computer program
code are further configured, with the one or more processors, to
cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: sending to
the first base station at least one configuration parameter forming
at least part of the one or more conditions and indications of the
one or more conditions from the third base station, and wherein the
entity comprises at least one of a third base station from which
the user equipment is handed into the first cell, a base station
controller controlling the third base station, a centralized
self-optimizing network server, or an operations, administration,
and maintenance server.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the entity comprises a third
base station, and wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from the third base station.
22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the entity comprises a third
base station, wherein the user equipment is handed into the first
base station from the third base station serving a third cell, and
wherein the one or more conditions further comprise one or more of
the following: a velocity of the user equipment is less than a
threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of the third
cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list; the third
cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type associated with
the second cell; a cell type associated with the first cell; a cell
type associated with the second cell is a same as the cell type of
the third cell; the cell type associated with the second cell is
the same as the cell type of the third cell and the cell type of
the first cell is of a different cell type than the cell type of
the second and third cells; the second and third cells are
controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling the first cell; an
amount of data exchanged by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a second threshold; or an amount of data
exchanged per second by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a third threshold.
23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
24. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium bearing computer program code
embodied therein for use with a computer, the computer program code
comprising: receiving a message from a first base station, wherein
the message comprises one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
comprise both of the following: a duration the user equipment is
connected to a first cell served by the first base station, prior
to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a second
base station, is less than a threshold; and the signal strength of
the second cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to
the first base station is better than a signal strength of the
first cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the receiving
occurs in an entity other than the first or second base stations in
the radio network, wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from the third base station serving a third
cell, and wherein the method further comprises sending to the first
base station at least one configuration parameter forming at least
part of the one or more conditions and indications of the one or
more conditions from the third base station, and wherein the entity
comprises at least one of a third base station from which the user
equipment is handed into the first cell, a base station controller
controlling the third base station, a centralized self-optimizing
network server, or an operations, administration, and maintenance
server.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to wireless networks and, more
specifically, relates to handover in radio networks.
BACKGROUND
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the
invention disclosed below. The description herein may include
concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that
have been previously conceived, implemented or described.
Therefore, unless otherwise explicitly indicated herein, what is
described in this section is not prior art to the description in
this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion
in this section.
Wireless traffic volumes are dramatically outstripping macro
cellular capability. Having multiple smaller cell coverage areas
(called zone eNB access points or remote radio units, home eNBs,
femto cells, pico cells, remote radio heads, or additional names)
controlled by a single controller (which might be called zone eNB
controller, central control unit, home eNB Gateway, eNB gateway, or
additional names) is anticipated to be a potential solution to this
problem. For instance, a macro cell might provide coverage over a
larger area, where there are multiple smaller cells under this
larger coverage area. The smaller cells might be controlled by a
single controller. Such a configuration may be referred to as a
heterogeneous network (HetNet). In this manner, users within the
smaller cells share data resources amongst a smaller set of users
and typically the HetNet configuration can provide higher capacity
and a faster network overall.
However, since there are smaller cells at least partly within a
macro cell, the chance exists that there will be multiple handovers
between the smaller cells, or between the smaller cells and the
macro cell. These handovers may not be efficient.
In another example, cells having overlapping coverage areas may be
operated by different service providers or use different radio
access technologies. One might say that the cells can be connected
under different portions of the radio network. Also, the chance
exists that there will be multiple handovers between cells
belonging to different service providers and/or using different
radio access technologies.
SUMMARY
This section contains examples of possible implementations and is
not meant to be limiting.
In one exemplary embodiment, a method includes sending a message
from a first base station to another entity in a radio network,
wherein the message includes one or more indications that one or
more conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more
conditions include one or both of the following: a duration the
user equipment is connected to a first cell served by the first
base station, prior to handover from the first cell to a second
cell served by a second base station, is less than a threshold; or
the signal strength of the second cell as measured by the user
equipment and reported to the first base station is better than a
signal strength of the first cell for a threshold duration of
time.
A further exemplary embodiment is a method including the method of
the previous paragraph, wherein the message is only sent if the one
or more conditions have been met. An additional exemplary
embodiment is the method of this paragraph and/or the previous
paragraph, wherein the user equipment is handed into the first base
station from a third base station, and wherein the other entity
includes the third base station. A further exemplary embodiment is
a method including the method(s) of this paragraph and/or the
previous paragraph, wherein the condition of the signal strength
further includes the condition of the signal strength of the second
cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to the first
base station is better according to at least one criterion than the
signal strength of the first cell for the threshold duration of
time. In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method includes any of
the methods of this paragraph and/or the previous paragraph, and
further includes the first base station determining whether the one
or more conditions have been met and sending the message in
response to a determination the one or more conditions have been
met. Another exemplary embodiment includes a method of any one of
the methods in this and/or a previous paragraph, wherein the user
equipment is handed into the first base station from a third base
station serving a third cell, and wherein the one or more
conditions further include one or more of the following: a velocity
of the user equipment is less than a threshold velocity; the second
cell is a neighbor of the third cell; the second cell is in an
outbound handover list; the third cell is in an inbound handover
list; a cell type associated with the second cell; a cell type
associated with the first cell; a cell type associated with the
second cell is a same as the cell type of the third cell; the cell
type associated with the second cell is the same as the cell type
of the third cell and the cell type of the first cell is of a
different cell type than the cell type of the second and third
cells; or the second and third cells are controlled by a same base
station controller which is different than the base station
controller controlling the first cell. Another exemplary embodiment
is a method of any one of this and/or the preceding paragraph,
wherein the one or more conditions further include an amount of
data exchanged by the first base station with the user equipment is
greater than a second threshold. A further exemplary embodiment
includes a method of this and/or the previous paragraph, wherein
the one or more conditions further include an amount of data
exchanged per second by the first base station with the user
equipment is greater than a third threshold. Yet another example is
a method of any of the methods of this paragraph and/or the
previous paragraph, further including aggregating a plurality of
indications of conditions being met for a plurality of user
equipment, and wherein sending further includes sending at least
one message from the first base station to the other entity, the at
least one message including indications of the conditions being met
for the plurality of user equipment.
In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes means for
sending a message from a first base station to another entity in a
radio network, wherein the message includes one or more indications
that one or more conditions have been met, and wherein the one or
more conditions include one or both of the following: a duration
the user equipment is connected to a first cell served by the first
base station, prior to handover from the first cell to a second
cell served by a second base station, is less than a threshold; or
the signal strength of the second cell as measured by the user
equipment and reported to the first base station is better than a
signal strength of the first cell for a threshold duration of
time.
A further exemplary embodiment is an apparatus including the
apparatus of the previous paragraph, wherein the message is only
sent if the one or more conditions have been met. An additional
exemplary embodiment is the apparatus of this paragraph and/or the
previous paragraph, wherein the user equipment is handed into the
first base station from a third base station, and wherein the other
entity includes the third base station. A further exemplary
embodiment is an apparatus including the apparatus of this
paragraph and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the condition of
the signal strength further includes the condition of the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better according to at least
one criterion than the signal strength of the first cell for the
threshold duration of time. In yet another exemplary embodiment, an
apparatus includes any of the apparatus of this paragraph and/or
the previous paragraph, and further includes the first base station
determining whether the one or more conditions have been met and
sending the message in response to a determination the one or more
conditions have been met. Another exemplary embodiment includes an
apparatus of any one of the apparatus in this and/or a previous
paragraph, wherein the user equipment is handed into the first base
station from a third base station serving a third cell, and wherein
the one or more conditions further include one or more of the
following: a velocity of the user equipment is less than a
threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of the third
cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list; the third
cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type associated with
the second cell; a cell type associated with the first cell; a cell
type associated with the second cell is a same as the cell type of
the third cell; the cell type associated with the second cell is
the same as the cell type of the third cell and the cell type of
the first cell is of a different cell type than the cell type of
the second and third cells; or the second and third cells are
controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling the first cell.
Another exemplary embodiment is an apparatus of any one of this
paragraph and/or the preceding paragraph, wherein the one or more
conditions further include an amount of data exchanged by the first
base station with the user equipment is greater than a second,
threshold. A further exemplary embodiment includes an apparatus of
this paragraph and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the one or
more conditions further include an amount of data exchanged per
second by the first base station with the user equipment is greater
than a third threshold. In another exemplary embodiment, an
apparatus includes any of the apparatus of this and/or a previous
paragraph, further including means for aggregating a plurality of
indications of conditions being met for a plurality of user
equipment, and wherein the means for sending further includes means
for sending at least one message from the first base station to the
other entity, the at least one message including indications of the
conditions being met for the plurality of user equipment.
In a further exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes one or
more processors and one or more memories including computer program
code. The one or more memories and the computer program code are
configured, with the one or more processors, to cause the apparatus
to perform at least the following: sending a message from a first
base station to another entity in a radio network, wherein the
message includes one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
include one or both of the following: a duration the user equipment
is connected to a first cell served by the first base station,
prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a
second base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better than a signal strength
of the first cell for a threshold duration of time.
Another exemplary embodiment includes a computer program including
code for sending a message from a first base station to another
entity in a radio network, wherein the message includes one or more
indications that one or more conditions have been met, and wherein
the one or more conditions include one or both of the following: a
duration the user equipment is connected to a first cell served by
the first base station, prior to handover from the first cell to a
second cell served by a second base station, is less than a
threshold; or the signal strength of the second cell as measured by
the user equipment and reported to the first base station is better
than a signal strength of the first cell for a threshold duration
of time, when the program is run on a data processing apparatus.
The computer program of this paragraph, wherein the computer
program is a computer program product including a computer-readable
medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with
a computer.
An additional exemplary embodiment is a computer program product
including a computer-readable storage medium bearing computer
program code embodied therein for use with a computer. The computer
program code including: sending a message from a first base station
to another entity in a radio network, wherein the message includes
one or more indications that one or more conditions have been met,
and wherein the one or more conditions include one or both of the
following: a duration the user equipment is connected to a first
cell served by the first base station, prior to handover from the
first cell to a second cell served by a second base station, is
less than a threshold; or the signal strength of the second cell as
measured by the user equipment and reported to the first base
station is better than a signal strength of the first cell for a
threshold duration of time.
In a further exemplary embodiment, a method is disclosed that
includes receiving a message from a first base station, wherein the
message includes one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
include one or both of the following: a duration the user equipment
is connected to a first cell served by the first base station,
prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a
second base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better than a signal strength
of the first cell for a threshold duration of time, wherein the
receiving occurs in an entity other than the first or second base
stations in the radio network.
Another exemplary embodiment is a method including the method of
the previous paragraph, wherein the entity includes a third base
station, and wherein the user equipment is handed into the first
base station from the third base station. A further exemplary
embodiment is a method including the methods in this paragraph
and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the condition of the signal
strength further includes the condition of the signal strength of
the second cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to
the first base station is better according to at least one
criterion than the signal strength of the first cell for the
threshold duration of time. An addition exemplary embodiment is a
method including any method of this and/or a previous paragraph,
wherein the entity includes a third base station, wherein the user
equipment is handed into the first base station from the third base
station serving a third cell, and wherein the one or more
conditions further includes one or more of the following: a
velocity of the user equipment is less than a threshold velocity;
the second cell is a neighbor of the third cell; the second cell is
in an outbound handover list; the third cell is in an inbound
handover list; a cell type associated with the second cell; a cell
type associated with the first cell; a cell type associated with
the second cell is a same as the cell type of the third cell; the
cell type associated with the second cell is the same as the cell
type of the third cell and the cell type of the first cell is of a
different cell type than the cell type of the second and third
cells; or the second and third cells are controlled by a same base
station controller which is different than the base station
controller controlling the first cell. An additional exemplary
method includes any one of the methods in this paragraph and/or the
previous paragraph, wherein the one or more conditions further
include an amount of data exchanged by the first base station with
the user equipment is greater than a second threshold. An
additional exemplary method includes any one of the methods in this
paragraph and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the one or more
conditions further include an amount of data exchanged per second
by the first base station with the user equipment is greater than a
third threshold. A further exemplary embodiment is a method of any
of any one of the methods in this paragraph and/or the previous
paragraph, wherein receiving further includes receiving at least
one message from the first base station, the at least one message
including indications of the conditions being met for a plurality
of user equipment.
An apparatus in an additional exemplary embodiment includes means
for receiving a message from a first base station, wherein the
message includes one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
include one or both of the following: a duration the user equipment
is connected to a first cell served by the first base station,
prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a
second base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better than a signal strength
of the first cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the
means for receiving is part of an entity other than the first or
second base stations in the radio network.
Another exemplary embodiment is an apparatus including the
apparatus of the previous paragraph, wherein the entity includes a
third base station, and wherein the user equipment is handed into
the first base station from the third base station. A further
exemplary embodiment is an apparatus including the apparatus in
this paragraph and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the condition
of the signal strength further includes the condition of the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better according to at least
one criterion than the signal strength of the first cell for the
threshold duration of time. An addition exemplary embodiment is any
apparatus of this and/or a previous paragraph, wherein the entity
includes a third base station, wherein the user equipment is handed
into the first base station from the third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the one or more conditions further includes
one or more of the following: a velocity of the user equipment is
less than a threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of
the third cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list;
the third cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type
associated with the second cell; a cell type associated with the
first cell; a cell type associated with the second cell is a same
as the cell type of the third cell; the cell type associated with
the second cell is the same as the cell type of the third cell and
the cell type of the first cell is of a different cell type than
the cell type of the second and third cells; or the second and
third cells are controlled by a same base station controller which
is different than the base station controller controlling the first
cell. An additional exemplary apparatus includes any one of the
apparatus in this and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the one or
more conditions further include an amount of data exchanged by the
first base station with the user equipment is greater than a second
threshold. A further exemplary apparatus includes any one of the
apparatus in this and/or the previous paragraph, wherein the one or
more conditions further include an amount of data exchanged per
second by the first base station with the user equipment is greater
than a third threshold. In yet another exemplary embodiment, an
apparatus includes any of the apparatus of this and/or the previous
paragraph, wherein the means for receiving further includes means
for receiving at least one message from the first base station, the
at least one message including indications of the conditions being
met for a plurality of user equipment.
In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes one or more
processors and one or more memories including computer program
code. The one or more memories and the computer program code are
configured, with the one or more processors, to cause the apparatus
to perform at least the following: receiving a message from a first
base station, wherein the message includes one or more indications
that one or more conditions have been met, and wherein the one or
more conditions include one or both of the following: a duration
the user equipment is connected to a first cell served by the first
base station, prior to handover from the first cell to a second
cell served by a second base station, is less than a threshold; or
the signal strength of the second cell as measured by the user
equipment and reported to the first base station is better than a
signal strength of the first cell for a threshold duration of time;
wherein the receiving occurs in an entity in a radio network other
than the first or second base stations in the radio network.
Another exemplary embodiment includes a computer program including
code for receiving a message from a first base station, wherein the
message includes one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
include one or both of the following: a duration the user equipment
is connected to a first cell served by the first base station,
prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a
second base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better than a signal strength
of the first cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the
receiving occurs in an entity in a radio network other than the
first or second base stations in the radio network, when the
program is run on a data processing apparatus. The computer program
of this paragraph, wherein the computer program is a computer
program product including a computer-readable medium bearing
computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer.
A further example is a computer program product including a
computer-readable storage medium bearing computer program code
embodied therein for use with a computer, the computer program code
including: receiving a message from a first base station, wherein
the message includes one or more indications that one or more
conditions have been met, and wherein the one or more conditions
include one or both of the following: a duration the user equipment
is connected to a first cell served by the first base station,
prior to handover from the first cell to a second cell served by a
second base station, is less than a threshold; or the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better than a signal strength
of the first cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the
receiving occurs in an entity other than the first or second base
stations in the radio network.
An additional exemplary embodiment includes any of the previous
paragraphs, wherein the user equipment is handed into the first
base station from a third base station serving a third cell,
wherein the first base station receives at least one configuration
parameter forming at least part of the one or more conditions and
indications of the one or more conditions from the third base
station, and wherein the at least one configuration parameter or
the indications of the one or more conditions or both received from
the third base station is contained in an X2 HANDOVER REQUEST
message.
In a further exemplary embodiment, any of the means described above
or below may be performed by one or more of logic operations
implemented in hardware (e.g., an integrated circuit such as an
application-specific integrated circuit) and/or implemented by one
or more processors specifically programmed by computer program code
to cause the apparatus to perform the logic operations.
A further exemplary embodiment is a system that includes any one or
more of the apparatus in any of the previous paragraphs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the attached Drawing Figures:
FIGS. 1-5 illustrate different cell and corresponding handover (HO)
scenarios.
FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a system in which
exemplary embodiments of this invention may be practiced.
FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method for condition reporting
to enable possible reduction in radio network inefficiencies in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the instant
invention.
FIG. 8 shows examples of possible conditions used in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 shows examples of possible parameters for the exemplary
conditions in FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 shows examples of possible indication(s) that the exemplary
condition(s) in FIG. 8 have been met.
FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of another method for condition
reporting to enable possible reduction in radio network
inefficiencies in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the
instant invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
As stated above, the HetNet configuration may provide higher data
throughput and reduced latency. One possible implementation for a
HetNet is a controller that controls multiple base stations, each
base station creating a small cell within the macro cell. With
HetNet, handovers of user equipment from one of the small cells
controlled by the controller, "up" to the macro cell, and back
"down" to a different small cell under the same controller results
in unnecessary costs such as a greater risk for dropped calls and
additional signaling through the core network. For instance, the
handover sequence might be from small cell A to macro cell B to
small cell C, where the time duration that the UE remains connected
to cell B (dwell time) is very short. Another example where there
are unnecessary costs is a handover sequence from a macro cell A to
a femto cell B and then to another macro cell C. For a fast moving
user equipment, it would be beneficial to avoid handovers to the
femto cell B and from the femto cell B to the macro cell C.
It would be advantageous to identify specific algorithms and
conditions for detecting and reporting these scenarios to enable
avoidance and/or management of these scenarios. Additional such
exemplary scenarios are shown in FIGS. 1-5.
FIG. 1 shows a scenario involving a HetNet configuration. In this
configuration, an eNB gateway 195 controls multiple base stations,
referred to as eNBs in this instance. An eNB (evolved Node B,
defined in third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term
evolution (LTE) wireless communication standards) contains radio
frequency transmitter(s) and receiver(s) which enable user
equipment (UE) to communicate with the network. eNBs are merely
exemplary, and any base station that provides access to a radio
network may be used. In this example, the user equipment (UE) 110
has a path through cells A, B, and C as indicated by an arrow. A
current cell connection diagram indicates a possible handover
scenario. The handover scenario progresses from small cell A to
macro cell B and then to small cell C. The "small" cells may be
femto, pico, or micro cells as examples. Both small cells A and C
are under the control of eNB gateway 195. Each cell A, B, and C is
served by a corresponding base station, not shown in this figure
but shown in FIG. 6. The current cell connection diagram indicates
the inefficiency of the transient handover to cell B, which is
remedied by the possible cell connection diagram in which the
handover sequence proceeds from cell A to cell C without a handover
to cell B.
Another example scenario is shown in FIG. 2, in which cells A, B,
and C are illustrated as being small or macro cells or some
combination of these (e.g., cell A and cell C are macro cells while
cell B is a small cell). The current cell connection diagram
illustrates the inefficiency of the transient handover to cell B,
which is remedied by the possible cell connection diagram in which
the handover sequence proceeds from cell A to cell C without a
handover to cell B. There may be an eNB gateway (or eNB gateways)
controlling one or more of the cells A, B, or C.
An additional example scenario is shown in FIG. 3, in which cells
A, B, and C are illustrated as being small or macro cells or some
combination of these. This scenario might occur, for example, for
"long" cells (cell B) between city blocks. The current cell
connection diagram illustrates the inefficiency of the transient
handover to cell B, which is remedied by the possible cell
connection diagram in which the handover sequence proceeds from
cell A to cell C without a handover to cell B. There may be an eNB
gateway (or eNB gateways) controlling one or more of the cells A,
B, or C.
A further example scenario is shown in FIG. 4, in which cells A, B,
and C are illustrated as being small or macro cells or some
combination of these. In this example, there are multiple "B"
cells, B1 through B4. The current cell connection diagram
illustrates the inefficiency of the transient handovers to cells
B1, B2, B3, and B4. These handovers and their corresponding
increased signaling are remedied by the possible cell connection
diagram in which the handover sequence proceeds from cell A to cell
C without a handover to any of the cells B1, B2, B3, or B4. There
may be an eNB gateway (or eNB gateways) controlling one or more of
the cells A, B1, B2, B3, B4, or C.
The fourth scenario is similar to the third scenario shown in FIG.
3, except one might visualize that the fourth scenario would occur
when a person is walking up the stairs in a building or is going up
an elevator, where each floor has a sector (one of cells B1-B4)
covering the floor, and there is one vertical sector (cell C) that
is covering the stairwell/elevator. As another example, the fourth
scenario could occur when a user is driving down a street running
east to west, and the user crosses a number of north-south running
streets (serviced by cells B1 to B4) in a row. It would be
beneficial for a radio network to avoid handing off the north-south
streets because the user is on a path coincident with an east-west
cell (cell C).
One note to make about the fourth scenario is that if the user
equipment were to stay on the cell C the entire time instead of
handing off into any of the vertical cells (B1 through B4), then
that might result in more radio frequency (RF) loading (even though
this situation would result in fewer handovers). This occurs, for
example, because while the user equipment is within the coverage
areas of cells B1 or B2, the user equipment will be farther away
from the center of cell C and its corresponding cell tower, than
the user equipment would have been away from the center of cells B1
or B2. However, the distance between the user equipment and the
tower is less important or not important as long as, e.g.: 1) the
user equipment is not transferring a particularly large amount of
data or physical resource blocks over the air; or 2) the base
station to which the user equipment is connected (or the radio
network in general) is not particularly loaded from an RF capacity
perspective, e.g. in the case where not all of the physical
resource blocks over the air are actually being used during this
time interval.
Yet another example scenario is shown in FIG. 5, in which cells A,
B, and C are illustrated as being small or macro cells or some
combination of these. The first current cell connection diagram
illustrates the inefficiency of the transient handover to cell B.
The second current cell connection diagram illustrates another
inefficiency of a transient handover to cell B. These
inefficiencies are remedied by the possible cell connection
diagram, in which the handover sequence proceeds from cell A to
cell C without a handover to cell B. There may be an eNB gateway
(or eNB gateways) controlling one or more of the cells A, B, or C.
A similar note as given above with respect to FIG. 4 is also
applicable to FIG. 5: there may be locations where, if the user
equipment were connected to cell C as in the possible cell
connection diagram, the user equipment would be farther away from
the cell tower in cell C than the user equipment would be from the
cell tower in cell B. However, the distance between the user
equipment and the tower is less important or not important as long
as, e.g.: 1) the user equipment is not transferring a particularly
large amount of data or physical resource blocks over the air; or
2) the base station to which the user equipment is connected (or
the radio network in general) is not particularly loaded from an RF
capacity perspective.
The radio network should be able to make decisions to effect the
possible cell connection diagrams shown in FIGS. 1-5. The exemplary
embodiments of the instant invention provide condition reporting to
enable possible reduction in radio network inefficiencies such that
the radio network can determine to effect (or not effect) the
possible cell connection diagrams shown in FIGS. 1-5. In general,
the system may achieve this through adjustment of antenna tilt
(e.g., change the cell coverage area), adjustment of the
measurement report time to trigger parameters (e.g., trigger
handover sooner), adjustment of measurement offsets (e.g., close
the gap between cells as depicted), while avoiding RF loss.
Additional detail about condition reporting to enable possible
reduction in radio network inefficiencies is presented after
description of FIG. 6.
Turning now to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block
diagram of a system into which exemplary embodiments of this
invention may be practiced. In FIG. 6, a user equipment (UE) 110 is
in wireless communication with a radio network 100. The user
equipment 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or more
memories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected
through one or more buses 127. The one or more transceivers 130 are
connected to one or more antennas 128. The one or more memories 125
include computer program code 123. The one or more memories 125 and
the computer program code 123 are configured to, with the one or
more processors 120, cause the user equipment 110 to perform one or
more of the operations as described herein.
The radio network 100 includes three eNBs 140-A, 140-B, and 140-C
and may include some combination of MME 185, eNB gateway 195, an
operations, administration, and maintenance (OA&M) server 196
(which may be referred to as an O&M server or an OMC,
operations and maintenance center, depending on configuration), and
a centralized self organizing network (C-SON) server 197. The
internal elements of eNB 140-A will be described herein, and it is
assumed the eNBs 140-B and 140-C are similar. The eNB 140-A
includes one or more processors 150-A, one or more memories 155-A,
and one or more transceivers 160-A interconnected through one or
more buses 157-A. The one or more transceivers 160-A are connected
to one or more antennas 158-A. The one or more memories 155-A
include computer program code 153-A. The one or more memories 155-A
and the computer program code 153-A are configured to, with the one
or more processors 150-A, cause the eNB 140-A to perform one or
more of the operations as described herein.
As shown in the previous figures, each of the eNBs 140 serves at
least one corresponding cell. As also shown in FIG. 1, an eNB
gateway 195 can control one or more of the eNBs 140 via a network
170. In this example, the eNB gateway 195 controls the eNBs 140-A
and 140-C, but this is merely exemplary. The network 170 may
implement, e.g., an S1 interface. The radio network 100 also
includes a mobility management entity (MME) 185, connected in this
example to the eNB 140-B and the eNB gateway 195, although the MME
185 may be connected to only the eNB 140-B instead, or may be
connected to all three eNBs 140, depending on implementation. The
network 175 could implement an S1 interface. The MME 185 is one
type of base station controller, and other types are possible. The
OA&M server 196 uses network 172 to communicate with the eNBs
140, and the network 172 can be any suitable network with any
appropriate interface (e.g., Internet Protocol). The C-SON server
197 uses network 171 to communicate with the eNBs 140, and the
network 171 can be any suitable network with any appropriate
interface (e.g., Internet Protocol).
In general, the various embodiments of the user equipment 110 can
include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones such as
smartphone, personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless
communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless
communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital
cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices
having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and
playback appliances having wireless communication capabilities,
Internet appliances permitting wireless Internet access and
browsing, tablets with wireless communication capabilities, as well
as portable units or terminals that incorporate combinations of
such functions.
The computer readable memories 125 and 155 may be of any type
suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented
using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor
based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and
systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and
removable memory. The processors 120 and 150 may be of any type
suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or
more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers,
microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors
based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting
examples.
Referring now to FIG. 7, this figure illustrates a flowchart of a
method for condition reporting to enable possible reduction in
radio network inefficiencies in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the instant invention. The blocks in the method may
be performed by computer program code 153 executing on the one or
more processors 150 to cause an eNB (e.g., eNB 140-B in the
examples of FIGS. 1-5) to perform the operations, or the blocks may
be performed by hardware such as an integrated circuit defined to
perform the operations, or there could be some combination of
software executing on hardware and hardware defined to perform
operations. The blocks may be combined or further subdivided.
It is assumed herein that the eNB 140-B is the entity in the radio
network 100 performing the operations in FIG. 7, and the eNB 140-B
serves the cell B in FIGS. 1-3 and 5 or one or more of the cells
B1-B4 in FIG. 4. eNB 140-A serves cell A and eNB 140-C serves cell
C. It is noted that the references herein to cells A, B, and C and
eNBs 140-A, 140-B, and 140-C are not intended to be limiting. For
instance, there may never be a handover to a "cell C" in certain
situations. These references are used solely for ease of
exposition. The method begins in block 705, when the eNB 140-B
receives indication(s) 706 of condition(s) 709 via a message or
multiple messages. For instance, the message may be an X2 HANDOVER
REQUEST message received from the eNB 140-A. The message may also
be received from a base station controller (e.g., MME 185)
associated with the eNB 140-B, from a C-SON server 197, or from an
OA&M server 196. Exemplary conditions 709 are described below
in reference to FIG. 8. The indication(s) 706 may further include
parameter(s) 708, which at least partially define corresponding
conditions 709. Exemplary parameters 708 are shown in FIG. 9 for
the conditions 709 shown in FIG. 8. It is noted that block 705 may
not be used in certain instances, such as when the eNB 140-B is
programmed with the conditions 709 and therefore does not receive a
message with indications of the conditions.
In block 710, the eNB 140-B determines whether a condition 709 has
been met or whether multiple conditions 709 have been met. The
condition 709 is associated with a user equipment 110 entering cell
B (served by eNB 140-B) via handover from cell A (served by eNB
140-A). The condition 709 therefore indicates cell B (i.e., its eNB
140-B or a controlling entity of eNB 140-B) detects a higher
likelihood that the user equipment was better suited for handover
from cell A directly to a third cell (e.g., cell C served by eNB
140-C). In general, the condition 709 is unrelated to radio link
failure associated with the user equipment.
In block 715, the eNB 140-B determines if one or more of the
conditions has been met. If not (block 715=No), the method ends in
block 725. If so (block 715=Yes), in block 720, the eNB 140-B sends
a message to another radio network entity. The other entity could
be one (or more) of the base station eNB 140-A, a base station
controller (eNB gateway 195) controlling the base station eNB
140-A, or a centralized SON server 197. The message includes one or
more indications 730 indicating at least that the condition
has/conditions have been met. This message can be UE specific or
can aggregate information from multiple UEs. Aggregation means the
eNB 140-B accumulates conditions for multiple user equipment 110
and sends the accumulated conditions in one or multiple messages in
block 720. It is then up to the entity (and perhaps other entities
of the radio network 100) to determine what to do with the reported
condition.
Referring to FIG. 8, this figure shows examples of possible
conditions 709 used in FIG. 7. In FIG. 8 (and FIGS. 9 and 10), the
numbers assigned to the conditions are merely for ease of
reference. Furthermore, the terms "cell A", "cell B", and "cell C"
are used solely for ease of reference. In this example, a cell B is
assumed to be served by eNB 140-B, a cell A is assumed to be served
by eNB 140-A, and a cell C is assumed to be served by eNB 140-C.
FIG. 8 (and FIGS. 9 and 10) consider an exemplary scenario of a
handover sequence from cell A to cell B to cell C. FIGS. 1 to 5 may
be used to help visualize these exemplary scenarios. It is noted
that a user equipment 110 may never actually be handed over to cell
C.
Regarding item (1), the condition 709 is a duration that the user
equipment is connected to cell B is less than a threshold. This
condition 709 indicates that the time spent in cell B is of short
duration as defined by the threshold such that the user equipment
110 was better suited for handover from cell A directly to cell
C.
Regarding item (2), the condition 709 is signal strength of cell C
as measured by the user equipment and reported to the base station
serving cell B is better than a signal strength of cell B for a
threshold duration of time. This condition 709 indicates the user
equipment 110 should likely have been handed over to cell C instead
of cell B. It is noted that the signal strength may have to meet
certain criteria (as shown in FIG. 9). Such criteria include
measurement report criteria (e.g., a dB threshold indicating how
much cell C is stronger than cell B, or an absolute dB threshold
associated with strength of cell C).
Concerning item (3), the condition 709 is an amount of data
exchanged by cell B with the user equipment 110 is greater than a
first threshold. Regarding item (4), the condition 709 is an amount
of data exchanged per second by cell B with the user equipment 110
is greater than a second threshold. These conditions 709 mean that
cell B reports users with data requirements deemed to be high. As
stated above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5, distance between the
user equipment and the cell tower (cell B in this example) is less
important or not important as long as, e.g.: 1) the user equipment
is not transferring a particularly large amount of data or physical
resource blocks over the air; or 2) the base station to which the
user equipment is connected (or the radio network in general) is
not particularly loaded from an RF capacity perspective. In the
case of high data requirements for a user, then proximity to a
tower can become more important and the conditions 709 for items
(3) or (4) might be used by the radio network 100 and considered in
reconfiguring the radio network 100 to create the possible cell
connection diagrams shown in FIGS. 1-5. As an example, if the data
rate between the user equipment 110 and cell B is high, cell B
should have been skipped in favor of cell C. This is because if the
data rate is high, then the user equipment 110 should have been
handed over to the cell that was closest to the user equipment 110
over the long duration, rather than the cell that looked better at
the moment the handover was triggered. If the data rate is low,
then even if the user equipment 110 is not connected to the closest
cell, there is little or no inefficiency. So cell B would feedback
information only when a bad handover choice was made.
Regarding item (5), the condition 709 is a velocity of the user
equipment 110 is less than a threshold velocity. If velocity is
greater than the threshold velocity, then a short stay may not be
inefficient. However, if velocity is less than the threshold (e.g.,
a pedestrian) and the user equipment 110 stayed in cell B for only
a short time, then that was a poor choice from an efficiency
perspective.
Concerning item (6), the condition 709 is that cell C is a neighbor
of cell A. The neighbor relationship is shown in FIGS. 1-5 for
cells A and C, where the cells abut each other. The neighbor
relationship therefore means that cell C is eligible to be selected
as a more likely candidate than cell B for handover, since without
the neighbor relationship a handover from cell A directly to cell C
may not be possible.
Regarding item (7), the condition 709 is that cell C is in an
outbound handover list. Regarding item (8), the condition 709 is
cell A is in an inbound handover list. Regarding the outbound
handover list (condition 7) and inbound handover list (condition
8), these do not necessarily indicate that cell C should have been
selected for handover instead of cell B. These two conditions are
included if it is desired that a message be sent only if cell A is
in the inbound handover list and/or cell C is in the outbound
handover list. As such, these two conditions likely make sense in
combination with other conditions (e.g., short dwell time and
outbound handover was between two particular cells known to be
neighbors) or as an embodiment with other conditions (e.g., if
cell-B is a macro cell, the inbound and outbound handover lists
might include only small cells to ensure that messages are
generated only if small-macro-small occurs; but this does not
necessarily mean that a direct cell A to cell C handover was
possible since that might depend on the dwell time in cell B).
Concerning item (9), the condition 709 is a cell type associated
with cell C, and concerning item (10), the condition 709 is a cell
type associated with cell B. Concerning item (11), the condition
709 is a cell type associated with cell C is a same as the cell
type of cell A, and concerning item (12), the condition 709 is that
the cell type associated with cell C is the same as the cell type
of cell A and the cell type of cell A is of a different cell type
than the cell type of cells A and B. The cell type is an indication
of, e.g., femto, pico, micro, macro cells, or a certain class of
these (e.g., "small" cells meeting a first set of criteria and
macro cells meeting a different set of criteria). These conditions
709 capture what is shown, e.g., in FIG. 1, where the small cells A
and C abut each other and there is a transient handover from small
cell A to the macro cell B and then to the small cell C. FIG. 1 is
only one example, and a similar example would be where cells A and
C are macro cells and cell B is a small cell. Yet other examples
are possible. These examples indicate inefficiency in the current
connection diagram of FIG. 1.
Concerning item (13), the condition 709 is that cell A and cell C
are controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling cell B. This condition
709 is an indication that handover to cell B is inefficient because
the handover occurs between base station controllers rather than
(if a handover only occurred from cell A directly to cell C)
"within" a single base station controller. This may also be an
indication that cells A and C belong to different operators or
radio access technologies than the operator or radio access
technology for cell B.
Regarding FIG. 5, a concern is to enable the radio network 100 to
identify the case where two different oblong shaped cells (cells B
and C) intersect. Normally there would be a better signal strength
with the vertical oblong cell (cell B), but because of the
direction of the user equipment 110, the radio network should
choose the horizontal oblong cell (cell C). Cell B can trigger a
report back to, e.g., cell A if the cell B executes a handover to
cell C that occurs within a threshold time interval (or in other
words there is a notification if cell B's coverage gets poor
quickly and cell B successfully handovers to cell C). See item (1)
of FIG. 8.
An issue is the handling of a scenario where handover from cell B
to cell C is delayed. The scenario is as follows. Cell B may or may
not hand over a particular user equipment to cell C, as it is
implementation dependent whether cell B will hand over the user
equipment to cell C when cell B's coverage is adequate, even though
cell C is better than cell B. It would be preferable to directly
handover the user equipment 110 to cell C, if after the user
equipment arrives at cell B, the user equipment 110 spends a
certain duration (see item (1) in FIG. 8), say one minute, in cell
A and then hands off to cell C, but while the user equipment 110 is
in cell B, cell C is always significantly stronger than cell B,
although cell B has adequate strength.
An example of handling this scenario is as follows. In response to
receiving a short visitation report query (e.g., in the message in
block 705 of FIG. 1 and corresponding to item (1) of FIG. 8), cell
B should configure the user equipment 110 and handover decisions to
handover the user equipment 110 to cell C if the user equipment 110
measures cell C as being consistently stronger than measurements of
cell B. Cell A will inform cell B that cell A also wants to have a
reporting if the user equipment 110 stays in cell B for more than
one minute, and during that time interval the measurements of cell
C are consistently stronger than are measurements of cell B. See
item (2) of FIG. 8.
Turning to FIG. 9, this figure shows examples of possible
parameters 708 for the exemplary conditions 709 in FIG. 8. These
parameters 708 shown in FIG. 9 are merely exemplary. The exemplary
parameters 708 are as follows:
1) A duration;
2) A threshold duration of time, and measurement report criteria
(e.g.: dB threshold indicating how much cell C is stronger than
cell B, or an absolute dB threshold associated with strength of
cell C);
3) A first threshold;
4) The second threshold;
5) The threshold velocity;
6) Neighbor information for cells A and C;
7) The outbound handover list;
8) The inbound handover list;
9) The cell type associated with cell C;
10) The cell type associated with cell B;
11) The cell types associated with cells A and C;
12) The cell types associated with cells A, B, and C; or
13) A list of which base station controllers control which cells
for at least cells A, B, and C.
FIG. 10 shows examples of possible indication(s) 730 that the
exemplary condition(s) in FIG. 8 have been met. There may be
multiple indications 730 sent per message in block 720 of FIG. 8 or
a single indication sent per message in block 720, or multiple
messages sent. The exemplary indications 730 in FIG. 10 include the
following:
1) Indication that a duration that the user equipment is connected
to cell B is less than a threshold (e.g., and the duration);
2) Indication that signal strength as measured by the user
equipment and reported to the cell B's base station of cell C is
better than a signal strength of the cell B for a threshold
duration of time;
3) Indication that an amount of data exchanged by cell B's base
station with the user equipment is greater than a first
threshold;
4) Indication that an amount of data exchanged per second by cell
B's base station with the user equipment is greater than a second
threshold;
5) Indication that a velocity of the UE is less than a threshold
velocity;
6) Indication that cell C is a neighbor of cell A;
7) Indication that cell C is in an outbound handover list;
8) Indication that cell A is in an inbound handover list;
9) Indication that a cell type associated with cell C meets a
predetermined cell type;
10) Indication that a cell type associated with cell B meets a
predetermined cell type;
11) Indication that a cell type associated with cell C is a same as
a cell type of cell A;
12) Indication that a cell type associated with cell C is the same
as a cell type of cell A and the cell type of cell B is of a
different cell type than the cell type of cells A and C; or
13) Indication that cells A and C are controlled by a same base
station controller which is different than the base station
controller controlling Cell B.
Additionally, the indications 730 may also include cell types or
cell identities appropriate for 1-13 (see item 14).
Referring to FIG. 11, this figure illustrates a flowchart of
another method for condition reporting to enable possible reduction
in radio network inefficiencies in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the instant invention. The operations in this figure
are performed, e.g., by one or more entities in the radio network
100 able to configure handovers of user equipment 110 between
cells. In block 1105, the entity or entities send indication(s) of
condition(s) 709 via a message (or messages) (e.g., one or more X2
HANDOVER REQUEST messages). The indications 706 may also include
parameter(s) 708, as previously described. In block 1110, the
entity or entities receive one or more messages including
indication(s) 730 the condition 709 has/conditions 709 have been
met. In block 1115, the entity or entities determine whether to
effect changes to radio network to increase efficiency. If not
(block 1120=No), the method ends in block 1125.
If so (block 1120=Yes), block 1130 is performed. In block 1130, the
changes are effected. In general, the system may achieve this
through adjustment of antenna tilt (e.g., change the cell coverage
area), adjustment of the measurement report time to trigger
parameters (e.g., trigger handover sooner), adjustment of
measurement offsets (e.g., close the gap between cells as
depicted), while avoiding RF loss. The method ends in block
1125.
The following are examples. In an exemplary embodiment, (item 1) a
method includes: sending a message from a first base station to
another entity in a radio network, wherein the message comprises
one or more indications that one or more conditions have been met,
and wherein the one or more conditions comprise one or both of the
following: a duration the user equipment is connected to a first
cell served by the first base station, prior to handover from the
first cell to a second cell served by a second base station, is
less than a threshold; or the signal strength of the second cell as
measured by the user equipment and reported to the first base
station is better than a signal strength of the first cell for a
threshold duration of time.
Item 2. The method of item 1, wherein the message is only sent if
the one or more conditions have been met. Item 3. The method of
item 1 wherein the user equipment handed into the first base
station from a third base station, and wherein the other entity
comprises the third base station. Item 4. The method of item 1,
wherein: the condition of the signal strength further comprises the
condition of the signal strength of the second cell as measured by
the user equipment and reported to the first base station is better
according to at least one criterion than the signal strength of the
first cell for the threshold duration of time.
Item 5. The method of item 1, wherein the user equipment handed
into the first base station from a third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the one or more conditions further
comprises one or more of the following: a velocity of the user
equipment is less than a threshold velocity; the second cell is a
neighbor of the third cell; the second cell is in an outbound
handover list; the third cell is in an inbound handover list; a
cell type associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; a cell type associated with the second cell is
a same as the cell type of the third cell; the cell type associated
with the second cell is the same as the cell type of the third cell
and the cell type of the first cell is of a different cell type
than the cell type of the second and third cells; or the second and
third cells are controlled by a same base station controller which
is different than the base station controller controlling the first
cell.
Item 6. The method of any one of items 1 or 5, further comprising
the first base station determining whether the one or more
conditions have been met and sending the message in response to a
determination the one or more conditions have been met.
Item 7. The method of item 1, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
Item 8. The method of item 1, wherein the user equipment handed
into the first base station from a third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the method further comprises receiving, by
the first base station, at least one configuration parameter
forming at least part of the one or more conditions and indications
of the one or more conditions from one of the third base station, a
base station controller associated with the first base station, a
centralized self-optimizing network server, or an operations,
administration, and maintenance server.
Item 9. The method of item 8, wherein the at least one
configuration parameter or the indications of the one or more
conditions or both received from the third base station is
contained in an X2 HANDOVER REQUEST message.
Item 10. The method of item 1, wherein sending further comprises
sending the message to the other entity only if a subsequent
inbound handover procedure for the user equipment to the first cell
does not occur within a threshold time following an outbound
handover procedure to the second cell. Item 11. The method of item
1, further comprising aggregating a plurality of indications of
conditions being met for a plurality of user equipment, and wherein
sending further comprises sending at least one message from the
first base station to the other entity, the at least one message
comprising indications of the conditions being met for the
plurality of user equipment.
Item 12. The method of any one of the preceding items 1 to 11,
wherein the other entity comprises at least one of a third base
station from which the user equipment is handed into the first
cell, a base station controller controlling the third base station,
a centralized self-optimizing network server, or an operations,
administration, and maintenance server.
In another exemplary embodiment, (item 13) a method includes
receiving a message from a first base station, wherein the message
comprises one or more indications that one or more conditions have
been met, and wherein the one or more conditions comprise one or
both of the following: a duration the user equipment is connected
to a first cell served by the first base station, prior to handover
from the first cell to a second cell served by a second base
station, is less than a threshold; or the signal strength of the
second cell as measured by the user equipment and reported to the
first base station is better than a signal strength of the first
cell for a threshold duration of time; wherein the receiving occurs
in an entity in a radio network other than the first or second base
stations in the radio network.
Item 14. The method of item 13, wherein the entity comprises a
third base station, and wherein the user equipment handed into the
first base station from the third base station.
Item 15. The method of item 14, wherein: the condition of the
signal strength further comprises the condition of the signal
strength of the second cell as measured by the user equipment and
reported to the first base station is better according to at least
one criterion than the signal strength of the first cell for the
threshold duration of time.
Item 16. The method of item 13, wherein the entity comprises a
third base station, wherein the user equipment handed into the
first base station from the third base station serving a third
cell, and wherein the one or more conditions further comprises one
or more of the following: a velocity of the user equipment is less
than a threshold velocity; the second cell is a neighbor of the
third cell; the second cell is in an outbound handover list; the
third cell is in an inbound handover list; a cell type associated
with the second cell; a cell type associated with the first cell; a
cell type associated with the second cell is a same as the cell
type of the third cell; the cell type associated with the second
cell is the same as the cell type of the third cell and the cell
type of the first cell is of a different cell type than the cell
type of the second and third cells; or the second and third cells
are controlled by a same base station controller which is different
than the base station controller controlling the first cell.
Item 17. The method of item 13, wherein the one or more indications
further indicate one or more of the following: the duration; a cell
identity associated with the second cell; a cell type associated
with the first cell; or a cell type associated with the second
cell.
Item 18. The method of item 13, wherein the user equipment handed
into the first base station from the third base station serving a
third cell, and wherein the method further comprises sending to the
first base station at least one configuration parameter forming at
least part of the one or more conditions and indications of the one
or more conditions from one of the third base station, a base
station controller associated with the first base station, a
centralized self-optimizing network server, or an operations,
administration, and maintenance server.
Item 19. The method of item 18, wherein the at least one
configuration parameter or the indications of the one or more
conditions or both received from the third base station is
contained in an X2 HANDOVER REQUEST message.
Item 20. The method of item 13, wherein receiving further comprises
receiving the message from the first base station only if a
subsequent inbound handover procedure for the user equipment to the
first cell does not occur within a threshold time following an
outbound handover procedure to the second cell. Item 21. The method
of item 13, wherein receiving further comprises receiving at least
one message from the first base station, the at least one message
comprising indications of the conditions being met for a plurality
of user equipment.
The method of any one of items 13 to 21, wherein the entity
comprises at least one of a third base station from which the user
equipment is handed into the first cell, a base station controller
controlling the third base station, a centralized self-optimizing
network server, or an operations, administration, and maintenance
server.
Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software
(executed by one or more processors), hardware (e.g., an
application specific integrated circuit), or a combination of
software and hardware. In an example embodiment, the software
(e.g., application logic, an instruction set) is maintained on any
one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context
of this document, a "computer-readable medium" may be any media or
means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport
the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction
execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer, with
one example of a computer described and depicted, e.g., in FIG. 6.
A computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storage
medium (e.g., memory or other device) that may be any media or
means that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in
connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device, such as a computer.
If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be
performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other.
Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described
functions may be optional or may be combined. Although various
aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims,
other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of
features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims
with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the
combinations explicitly set out in the claims. It is also noted
herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the
invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting
sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which
may be made without departing from the scope of the present
invention as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *